Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, has said that tank farm owners in Apapa and its environs have 90 days to build loading bays or risk being shut down.
Announcing the full scale enforcement of the Lagos Road Traffic Law that restricted okada riders and tricycles from plying certain routes in the state, the governor also warned the tank owners that their tank farms will be shut down by the state government if they fail to adhere to the 90 days ultimatum.
He also warned all tank farm owners to desist from allocating pick-up papers to trucks beyond and above their daily capacity as is the case presently.
The Governor had met with tank farm and petroleum tanker owners three months ago and asked them to come up with solution for the traffic gridlock, but lamented that till date, they had not come with any solution to solve the problem at hand.
Ambode stated that one of the areas of concern looked into at the meeting was the non-conformity with requisite conditions on the use of the Sea Ports by the various elements operating in and out of the ports.
Some of the areas, he said, include lack of due diligence in granting approval for the construction of tank farms, such that areas dedicated for trucks holding bays were being used for other purposes; refusal by importers of cargoes on board vessels rather than transporting the cargoes to the warehouses, from where up-country trucks would have loaded them instead of the ports, among others.
“The state of affairs that has accentuated traffic gridlock in Apapa and its environs is no longer tolerable to the state government. All necessary arrangements have been made with the relevant regulatory institutions to sanction defaulting port users-importers, tank farms owners, terminal operators, shipping companies, among others.
